80 Behind the smile

The spoken words instilled the entire audience with a deep longing. It resonated with the deepest parts of their being.They did not crave power and ability, they dreamed of true freedom. The God-given task was to be done, by those striving and lusting for it.

The middle-aged man had a proud expression on his face, seeing the effect caused by his speech. He could not help but nod in satisfaction. Looking around he confirmed, that he had achieved his goal and that his presence was no longer needed. s

Without saying any other word he logged out with a very satisfied look. Every onlooker could only bow their head in awe for the men who gave their lives a new direction.

He opened his eyes and his expression lost every warmth it previously had. The room he was currently sitting in was decorated in many colourful banner and ornaments. It did not fit the image of the calm and collect middle-aged man he had just portrayed. This flashy and excessive style was perfect for men of his calibre, as it underlined his natural prestige. That is why he had invested a lot of time into choosing his furniture and the art.

His biggest pride was the enormous painting of himself right behind leather chair. Dressed in a white garment, holding the decapitated head of the Griffin he had killed by his own hands. This painting represented the achievement of a lifetime.

But currently, he was unable to find any joy in looking at his carefully selected inventory. His face and body language were currently emanating a very heavy feeling of dissatisfaction.He rubbed his temples while thinking about the circumstances that lead to this event.

A knock could be heard on the wooden door covered in fancy runes and depictions of Gods.

The man could only sigh heavily as his full attention was required once again. Personal feelings should not be of any impact in his decisionmaking.

" Come in."

The man said without any change in his tone. The door opened with a slight squeak and a man donning a military Garp came in holding a stack of papers. The door was closed by his maids and the man bowed in front of him, before placing the papers in front of him.

The middle-aged man did not pay any attention to the man in front of him but instead focussed on the papers and grabbed them neither too slow nor too fast.After having read through the pages in silence he resumed the conversation.

" What is the progress ofour candidates for the Gods Chosen."

The man replied without missing a beat with great care and respect in his voice.

" Sir, our teams are currently unable to break through the defences the monsters had set up. After unearthing these strange coins, any progress came to a halt.Any advancement is prevented by the strange rules that apply to this world."

" This status quo causes our team to suffer from exhaustion both physically and mentally. Morale is at an all-time low. The constant pressure is leading to more and more problems."

The man concluded his statement by pointing at the relevant points of the paper. He looked at his supervisor expecting his orders.

After a few seconds of silence, the middle-aged mans had decided on the necessary measures that had to be taken.

The situation requires delicate handling and planning, because of the great importance attached to this mission. Failure is inexcusable. Especially since he was limited to watching from the side and had to rely on the candidates.

Any form of unrest or loss of obedience could lead to disaster and would mean the end of all of their plans. Therefore he had decided to satisfy any kind of demand that these youth would propose. Even though these brats had the galls to exploit his goodwill leaving him with no other choice but to comply.

He could only sigh thinking about the previous demands they had stated. Were they building their own little paradise and wantonly ignored their orders to live their lives to their fullest or that all of this luxury was needed to combat the stress those people have to endure.

They had demanded the best medicine and food that the Church could muster. Adding to that they asked to have access to the Faith-net to keep up with the latest gossips and rumours. Besides their bodyguards that are tasked to keep their bodies safe, another person was also necessary to massage their sore body, at least in their eyes.

The latest knowledge, be it books or scholars was also granted to them and they could access many secrets the Churches were keeping from the general public. This level of secrecy was a precedent, a one-time exception the Council had decided on to ensure the absolute silence from every person involved.

While all of these demands were a bit unreasonable at times, they were still feasible, but after these greedy youths had realized their leverage, they decided to make the most out of it.

Every new demand they made could not be achieved by normal means and had to be done by another party, that is just as unreasonable and unpredictable as those youths.

This party or it should rather be called an entity is something that does not listen to any pleas or orders. It acts on whatever it deems necessary.The impossibility of said demands is only highlighted by trying to give that candidates access to many human babies.

How should the act of letting babies appear in front of these youths be regarded as something reasonable by the entity?

Every argument he came up with was flawed one way or another. By no means could he tell the strange being the intended purpose of said babies. A tool to vent their frustrations on is not an explanation that would be accepted by the entity. The only idea, that was somewhat realistic was to propose an exchange of equal value. Though the idea, that such an entity had any interest in them was laughable.

It was the entity, that had a mysterious connection to this place, they were trying so desperately to explore and conquer. He could not fathom, why such an entity had approached the Church, gifting them with the design of that special helmet enabling them to appear in that strange world.

It clearly had a plan or an agenda it was following, so why would it deviate from its plan just to satisfy their will. Even more confusing, was the fact, that the entity had agreed to their idea on the spot. It only asked for permission to browse the holy-tube network. This strange proposition left him and the researcher speechless.

While the offer was accepted in a heartbeat, many questions arose afterwards. He could only scoff at the gullible technicians thinking that they had figured it all out. This entity could not be explained by men. Its origin can only be found in the Gods, of that he was sure. Their faith has been honoured and they have been gifted this opportunity.

But despite their deep faith and trust into the Gods, they were curious as well, what this strange entity would do once it had been granted access to the Holy-tube. Though they had to make sure, that the entity could only access Holy-Tube and was barred from the rest. The solution they found was simple but effective. All that had to be done, was to modify the strange helmets that had been given out as a cover to the general populace.

They simply created another copy of Holy-Tube that only could be accessed via those helmets efficiently eliminating any chance of a data leak. Yet all their precautions turned out to be for nought, as the strange entity chose to just watch many videos about the Church and culture of this world. It just showed a genuine interest in the reactions of the players.

Despite its current behaviour, they were glad to have prepared those safety measures. Even if their secrets are safe and no relevant information has been divulged, it would be unwise to disregard the entity. After all, the best course of action is to gather as much information about it as possible. But for the time being, they had assumed to have a general understanding of it. This assumption did not last all too long before it was disproven.

After its initial research, there had been a long period of silence and no activity. This break came to a sudden an end as its research started anew.

Its next behaviour left everyone baffled and unable to muster any explanation. Once more it had started to search for the same topics it had done previously but this time it showed a strange passion for videos used to desensitize the youth. It spent an absurd amount of time just watching a reenactment of a pagan custom.

After a quick viewing, each researcher could confirm, that this video was indeed very effective at erasing interest of any kind.

The next discovery they made, was that this strange had adapted to their written language. This much did not surprise them, as a general intellect was already concluded after their first discussion using magic to converse their intent.What left them befuddled was the way it applied its newfound knowledge.

Why it would spend so much time spewing hatred and berating under the pseudonym "Call me Daddy2" was beyond any of them. The deep-rooted hatred towards the player "Call me Daddy" was displayed in each and every comment it wrote. It did not stop at insulting and discrediting " Call me Daddy" it wanted to humiliate and shame his very existence.

The outcome was strangely the exact opposite as all the attention turned "Call me Daddy" into a celebrity.Any outsider might think, that this was a publicity stunt, heck most of them would do so too if they did not have inside knowledge.

The persona "Call me Daddy2" disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Although its mantle had been taken on later again it never used the pseudonym afterwards. Even more ironic were the circumstances the name was now used.

Instead of ill-will the person who calls himself "Call me Daddy2" claims to be a prophet and preaches about the revelations, that his god had given to him. This person had yet to be found and even the Church could not pinpoint his or her location. But while this person remained active, the entity had stopped its activity once more. Its last inquiry was just one word that no one could decipher as of now.

P A R A S I T E was the last set of letters it had written down before closing the connection on its own volition.

What followed was a long period of time, without any activity from the entity. Any attempt to converse with it was utterly ignored. The only thing it did, was to listen to the requests and questions stated by the employed technician of"Primal Survival".

Interference was out of the question, as the risk involved was not worth the potential outcome. That left them with no other choice but to sit out and wait for the entity to resume their conversations.

A position, that was not too advantageous if the success of the total mission was depending on the relationship between both parties.

As an act of goodwill, the middle-aged man decided to avoid protocol and send his magic intent to convey his intent to it directly. This art of communication is the purest way to communicate between 2 parties, as magic is unable to lie or twist the truth.

He conveyed each of his demands without any filter and waited for the terms and conditions the strange entity would state. But his message remained unanswered.

What he did not know, was that just at this moment. A ridiculous amount of human babies had appeared on the frontline in the strange realm. The contenders had a big smile on their face, as they saw the delivery right in front of their eyes.

After receiving no reply, he chose to send his message once again hoping for a different outcome. Deep down he had a nagging feeling, that the result would still be the same. Yet he could do nothing more than repeatedly sending his message. This seemingly endless repetition caused a vexing frustration.

Still, he could do nothing more than gritting his teeth and lament the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his attempts to converse. Any other option was above his area of responsibility.

This cycle continued with the same result bringing the consequence. The middle-aged man was certain, that he would be standing here for all eternity if nothing changed. An idea started to fester in his mind, that would ensure a reply, but before he could do anything stupid he got the answer he had desired so deeply.

Even though the words " For shizzle my dude" were not the ones he had expected. Neither was the strangely worded demand for " the good stuff made from plants".

The middle-aged man was hit by a wave of confusion, as he could not fathom what exactly the entity wants from him. What did those words even mean? Did they come to an agreement and what does the good stuff from plants even refer to? Does he want to learn about the herbs and plants this world has to offer?

Aside from the newfound difficulties, the middle-aged man very contended with the favourable development of the negotiation.

In fact, he was overcome by a feeling of liberation, as the gigantic burden was lifted from his shoulders.

Through all his effort, the mission could continue without hindrances.That's the only thing that matters.

However, he could not be at ease, before the agreement is fulfilled. So he started to think about what " the good stuff from the plants" refers to.

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The messenger had not taken a single step during this whole procedure and still awaited his orders. This level of discipline was expected and ensured by severe punishments.

He just stared at his superior not daring to utter any sound in order to avoid disturbing his boss.

Even as the minutes passed without any notable movement by his superior he still stood firm, waiting for new orders to execute.

Deep down he wondered why the men in front of his eyes did not show any trace of movement. Was he testing him? A man of his position evaluates people in a different manner after all.

Straightening his back and flexing his muscles, he condensed the mana around him to create a noble image. That was the best way to leave a good impression. He did not want to ruin the opportunity, that had come after serving his superior for years without any complaints.

The small grin, that had appeared on the face of his boss was proof enough, that he was satisfied by his performance. It would be foolish to relax already, as the test was currently still ongoing.

He vowed to stand here until the men in front of his eyes told him to do otherwise. Even if that is the last thing he would ever do.

The time passed ever so slowly, but the man still stood firm and had a resolute expression on his face. He did not falter in the face of adversary.

This showdown of epic proportions was far from reaching its conclusion as both sides did not back down.

This staredown would go on for quite a while before the "test" would end in an unsatisfying manner, but that was of no concern to the person, who had caused this event in the first place.

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" I have done my part. the message has been delivered according to your words. Now tell me what did you do to end up in such a situation. " spoke the Observer in its usual tone.

" It is not a story the Jedi would tell you." said the boy, who caused more trouble, than he is actually worth

His body was riddled with holes and blood was gushing out without end, yet he was smiling as if there was no tomorrow. The terrifying screams of the infuriated monsters were reverberating in the air, yet he did not seem to care all too much about the bloody smell in the air.

" Where should I even begin? Let me start by saying, that the location of your choosing was less than stellar...